Ryan Cos. says it's up to Naperville City Council to increase 5th Ave. commuter parking spaces

City of Naperville

This map shows the distribution of 1,681 commuter parking spaces in the initial concept drawings for the redevelopment of land around Naperville's Fifth Avenue train station. This map is Concept A.

This map shows the distribution of 1,681 commuter parking spaces in the initial concept drawings for the redevelopment of land around Naperville's Fifth Avenue train station. This map is Concept A. (City of Naperville)

Naperville residents and commuters can wait as long as 13 years to get a permit parking space at the Fifth Avenue train station.

Many were hopeful the list would be a little shorter with the redevelopment of more than 13 acres of city-owned land surrounding the train station. But when initial concepts for the development were unveiled last week by Ryan Cos., the number of total commuter parking spaces remained flat at 1,681.

“I think most of Naperville thinks that this whole development is going to create new parking spots,” Naperville resident Susan Breen said at the concept meeting. “I think it’s strange that the city council used our taxpayer money to buy the parking lots, and I think maybe at one time they really thought they were going to solve the parking lot situation.”

Of Naperville’s total commuter parking stock at the Fifth Avenue station, 918 are permit parking spaces, 726 are daily fee spots and 37 are ADA spaces, said Jennifer Louden, deputy director of Naperville’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department. The wait list to secure a permit space at the Burlington/Parkview lots is about 13 years, the one for the Kroehler lot is about seven, Louden said.

When Breen last week asked Ryan Cos. whether the Naperville City Council wants to add new parking spots, Jim McDonald, senior vice president of real estate development for Ryan Cos., said, “You’d have to ask your council.”

Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico said he thinks the number of parking spaces should be studied further before the city would require Ryan Cos. increase the number of spots.

“Now that we are starting to see what the development could look like, we can determine what effect the proposed commuter housing will have on commuter parking,” Chirico said.

Some people have said a transit-oriented development surrounding the Fifth Avenue train station would draw residents who commute via Metra, thus eliminating the need for those residents to drive to the station. “If so, I would like to see some data to support that position,” Chirico said.

More commuter parking also means more traffic, which is something residents in surrounding neighborhoods, and current commuters, don’t want.

When it comes to looking at Naperville’s commuter parking wait list, Councilwoman Patty Gustin said she has requested “a scrubbing and review of the current list and evaluation of the current parking picture.”

“This gives the city an opportunity to have the city’s IT department add online reservation options and in time an auto tagging system that would allow a more effective and efficient tracking system, similar to the Downers Grove system,” Gustin said.

An online system could help open up spots for commuters who only use their spot two or three times a week, Gustin said.

The idea of redevelopment surrounding the Fifth Avenue train station first emerged in late 2016, when the city of Naperville approved a contract to buy the Boecker lot. The property on Fifth Avenue just east of Washington Street was seen as a “strategic piece” of improving parking near the train station, Chirico said in December 2016.

The 1.48-acre lot cost $3.41 million. Money for the purchase came out of the Burlington Fund, which is funded by fees commuters pay for daily parking and monthly parking permits. Burlington Fund dollars are to be used for parking maintenance and capital projects related to commuter parking.

Prior to Naperville purchasing the land, commuters rented spaces in the lot from a private management company for $110 a month. Commuters who had been renting spaces in the lot were left to use the daily spots or find long-term parking elsewhere.

Naperville converted the property to a 150-spot lot for daily parking where spots are available for a premium $5 because of the lot’s proximity to the Metra station.

Ryan Cos. is open about its concept plans not addressing the commuter parking issue.

As part of the original request for qualifications, the city required, at a minimum, the number of existing commuter parking spots be replaced.

“That’s what we’ve done,” McDonald said. “The city can ultimately, through this process, they can decide, you know what, we have 4,000 commuters that come and go from this station, let’s build 4,000 stalls.”

With alternatives to driving and more people working from home, McDonald asked whether that number of parking spaces would be needed decades from now.

“Your city council can clearly make that decision. This is our effort to study what else can it be,” McDonald said. Depending on how use plans pan out, some parking stalls designated for other uses could be used for commuter parking, he said.

Still, Chirico sees the covered parking in the initial concepts as an improvement for commuters who drive to the station given that the current spaces are surface level and not protected from the weather.

“Providing sheltered commuter parking certainly has the potential of improving the commuter experience by keeping cars out of the elements — snow, rain, hot sun — so right out of the gate by changing from surface parking to sheltered parking should improve the commuter experience,” Chirico said.

City of Naperville

This map shows the distribution of 1,681 commuter parking spaces in the initial concept drawings for the redevelopment of land around Naperville's Fifth Avenue train station. This map is Concept B.

This map shows the distribution of 1,681 commuter parking spaces in the initial concept drawings for the redevelopment of land around Naperville's Fifth Avenue train station. This map is Concept B. (City of Naperville)